Matt Carthy

The Minister of State has increased the cost on farmers by carbon tax hikes.

Diesel is gone up for the tractor and trailer.

Let us see how many new hectares are being planted this year.

That is because there were actually none last year.

And increased petrol and diesel costs.

The Minister of State got captured by these boys. It is very disappointing.

Did the Minister of State fight the battle on the carbon tax? If he did, he lost.

All the people of Kerry are paying more of a price today than they did yesterday thanks to the Minister of State.

Hear, hear.

Is cúis díomá dom nach bhfuil mórán ama agam freagra a thabhairt do na hAirí. The budget was, to put it mildly, a huge disappointment. In fact, for many people who I have been speaking to, "stunned" is the only word I could use. In a budget of billions in extra spending, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent TDs have not just managed to deliver nothing for workers and families; they have actually…

Surely, Michael Healy-Rae did not agree to that.

Hitting the rural communities again.

That is a €500 increase.

Just not in the presidential election.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

On Financial Resolution No. 1, it has got to the point where these increases in the cost of cigarettes are now just vindictive rather than serving any purpose. It certainly does not serve any health purpose. We know that for a number of years, there were substantial reductions in the number of smokers. That has begun to turn around despite the fact that over the past number of years, the price of …

That is the statement from the Minister's Government colleague, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae.

We are talking about the financial resolutions-----

-----and I am putting on the record-----

-----that I will not support a resolution that is making the lives of people more difficult for no purpose other than to serve a stated objective of the Government to give the appearance of doing something. The truth of the matter is that just like today's budget, this financial resolution is not in the interests of the people we were sent here to represent. It is, as I said, a vindictive measure …

It is not agreed. Vótail.

I want to speak on Financial Resolution No. 4 very briefly and support the comments from Deputy Ó Broin that this just appears to be a rabbit out of a hat. It stands as one of those examples where Ministers and probably senior civil servants sitting around a room late last week realised they had done nothing in respect of housing and needed to provide some form of a fig leaf to suggest that they w…

That is a good question.

I have never seen a Government throw it out before the first budget.